What Is a Health Savings Account (HSA)?

A health savings account (HSA) is a medical savings account available to taxpayers to pay for medical expenses not covered by insurance. A consumer or a worker can set aside pretax dollars that can then be used to pay co-payments, coinsurance or prescriptions. There are some HSA accounts that allow account holders to use it like an IRA (use it indefinitely), while others, generally tied to an employer, must use the saved money within a calendar year.